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商品の説明
内容説明
Winner of The 2008 Jane Grigson Award, issued by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Winner of the 2008 Cordon d' Or Culinary Literature - History Culinary Academy Award. This is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans for over 10,000 years. From the lentil to the soybean, every civilization on the planet has cultivated its own species of bean. The humble bean has always attracted attention - from Pythagoras' notion that the bean hosted a human soul to St. Jerome's indictment against bean-eating in convents (because they "tickle the genitals"), to current research into the deadly toxins contained in the most commonly eaten beans. Over time, the bean has been both scorned as "poor man's meat" and praised as health-giving, even patriotic. Attitudes to this most basic of foodstuffs have always revealed a great deal about a society. Beans: A History takes the reader on a fascinating journey across cuisines and cultures.
著者について
Ken Albala is Professor of History at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He is the author of many books including Eating Right in the Renaissance, Food in Early Modern Europe, Cooking in Europe 1250-1650, The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe and Pancake. He was editor of three food series for Greenwood Press and has recently completed a 4-volume Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia. Albala is also co-editor of the journal Food Culture and Society, published by Berg.
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カスタマーレビュー
Amazon.com で最も参考になったカスタマーレビュー (beta)
Amazon.com:
10件のカスタマーレビュー
18 人中、16人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
What is the author's point?
2008/10/20
形式:ハードカバー
I loved Kurlansky's COD and very much liked his SALT. I found Foster and Cordell's "CHILIES TO CHOCOLATE: Food the Americas gave the World" fascinating. And I love eating beans, from garbanzos to black beans to lentils.
So, I like the genre to which "BEANS: A History" belongs as well as the subject itself.
However, I found myself wondering, "What is the point the author is trying to make?" or perhaps "What is the direction of this book?".
The table of contents implies that this book is focused around a "bean by bean" approach. However, only the chapter on soybeans seems to fit that bill. None of the other chapters seem to be a coherent discussion about each bean (or group of beans). Instead, the chapters seem to meander around, seemingly without direction, excepting for the author's fixation on the historical association between the eating of beans and being poor. Honestly, it seems that well over a third of the book is dedicated to making this single point, with endless quotes to support it, often obscuring the boundaries between chapters.
What I craved in this book is closely approximated by his final chapter, which is on Soybeans. Here he starts with its known beginnings, how and why its use morphed over time and varied from place to place. He discusses (but does not fixate upon) its role in society. He gives interesting facts about its biology. At the end of the soy chapter he does, alas, wander off-topic into a confusing discussion about the pros and cons of genetically modified foods -- an interesting topic, but one that should be reviewed by someone more expert and not discussed parenthetically as it is here; similarly, he meanders briefly off into the field of medicine, where mistakes are definitely made(including confusing the findings of scientific medical studies with non-science based/unstudied proclamations), and he sometimes contradicts himself.
Finally, the recipes seem strewn in almost randomly. Sometimes they illustrate points, but other times not. Some interesting from a cooking-in-your-own kitchen standpoint, sometimes from a historical standpoint, and sometimes ????
In the end, I was rather disappointed by this tome. There are interesting nuggets to be dug out.... but I would like more from my reads than that.
Steven Mlodinow
So, I like the genre to which "BEANS: A History" belongs as well as the subject itself.
However, I found myself wondering, "What is the point the author is trying to make?" or perhaps "What is the direction of this book?".
The table of contents implies that this book is focused around a "bean by bean" approach. However, only the chapter on soybeans seems to fit that bill. None of the other chapters seem to be a coherent discussion about each bean (or group of beans). Instead, the chapters seem to meander around, seemingly without direction, excepting for the author's fixation on the historical association between the eating of beans and being poor. Honestly, it seems that well over a third of the book is dedicated to making this single point, with endless quotes to support it, often obscuring the boundaries between chapters.
What I craved in this book is closely approximated by his final chapter, which is on Soybeans. Here he starts with its known beginnings, how and why its use morphed over time and varied from place to place. He discusses (but does not fixate upon) its role in society. He gives interesting facts about its biology. At the end of the soy chapter he does, alas, wander off-topic into a confusing discussion about the pros and cons of genetically modified foods -- an interesting topic, but one that should be reviewed by someone more expert and not discussed parenthetically as it is here; similarly, he meanders briefly off into the field of medicine, where mistakes are definitely made(including confusing the findings of scientific medical studies with non-science based/unstudied proclamations), and he sometimes contradicts himself.
Finally, the recipes seem strewn in almost randomly. Sometimes they illustrate points, but other times not. Some interesting from a cooking-in-your-own kitchen standpoint, sometimes from a historical standpoint, and sometimes ????
In the end, I was rather disappointed by this tome. There are interesting nuggets to be dug out.... but I would like more from my reads than that.
Steven Mlodinow
10 人中、8人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Be Surprised by This Book!
2008/1/29
形式:ハードカバー|Amazonが確認した購入
One of the pleasures of reading is to come across a book with subject matter that not only takes you by surprise--but actually defies any expectations you might have based on its title. I mean, who would expect, what would you expect from, a book simply titled: Beans - A History? Well what you get in this instance is an absolutely delightful survey of the role that beans have played in human history. Yes--those beans: baked beans, navy beans, green beans, lima beans, soy beans, fava beans. And then many other familiar foods that we don't necessarily think of as belonging to the bean family--peas, peanuts, chickpeas, lentils. In his wide-ranging and graceful cruise across the millennia and continents, the author manages to combine careful botanical facts with relaxed historical narratives. Almost every page holds some fascinating fact about the role that beans have played in the cultures of the world--some familiar, many unfamiliar. And it's by no means a compendium of curiosities: there are some serious themes and subtle insights running through the book: one such is the way that beans have come to be an indicator of socio-economic classes. It's also right up-to-date on many issues of the day--geneticaly modified food, for instance. Yes, and don't worry--Albala writes with a light touch and doesn't shy away from the inevitable association of beans with flatulence. And as a bonus, you get lots of recipes. In fact, you get your money's worth just treating it as a cookbook, with recipes from many centuries and cultures. In my opinion, Beans--A History takes its place right up there with the best of the recent books that trace a single food through history.
13 人中、10人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Jane Grigson Award
2008/10/21
形式:ハードカバー
Beans is the winner of the 2008 International Association of Culinary Professionals Jane Grigson Award and was also a finalist for the food writing award.
My apologies for posting a review of my own book, but I saw no other way of getting this information onto amazon. I hope you enjoy it. Ken
My apologies for posting a review of my own book, but I saw no other way of getting this information onto amazon. I hope you enjoy it. Ken
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